Comparison

Rail Guide vs Open Railroad Guide

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Rail Guide

Explore detailed maps of active, historic, and abandoned rail lines across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Includes milepost data for most routes and points of interest. Stay updated on map changes via the official Facebook page.

Highlights
  • North American rail line maps
  • Current, historic, and abandoned lines
  • Milepost data
  • Points of interest
  • Map update notifications
Features
Read full description

Maps of current, historic, and abandoned rail lines plus points of interest in the US, Canada, and Mexico with mileposts for most lines. Follow facebook.com/railguide for map updates.

About

Open Railroad Guide

Explore detailed railroad maps, historical imagery, and live train data. Features include AR track viewing, frequency finding, and community collaboration for rail enthusiasts and historians.

Highlights
  • Live train map
  • AR 3D Track View
  • Frequency Finder
  • Channel Log
  • Transit Map
  • Rail Community
  • Train Watch
  • FRA Records
Features
Read full description

OpenRailroadGuide puts detailed railroad maps and historical aerial imagery in your pocket so you can explore, save, and share the places that matter to railfans, historians, and planners. Enjoy a completely distraction free experience with no ads on any level! -**ORG Postchive:** -**Live train map:** View all Amtrak and VIA Rail trains on a Live Map -**AR 3D Track View:** See tracks in augmented reality to get quick identification. -**Frequency Finder:** Find the exact frequency of any rail line in NA to use on your scanner -**Channel Log:** Use side-by-side with your scanner to tag and organize your channels -**Transit Map:** View all transit lines in your local city, with color coded lines -**Rail Community:** Use the rail community to collaborate with other users to put user-made info on rail lines and train sightings that update in real time -**Train Watch:** Put specific points on the map to get alerts and see upcoming trains to that point - **FRA Records:** Get official records by the FRA on how much trains run through a railroad in the day, night, and weekly. - **Interactive Map:** Fast vector-tile map with smooth zooming and panning built for rail lines and right-of-ways. - **Grade Crossings:** View every railroad crossing in the US with full FRA Inventory records on them. -**Trainspotting Logs & AI Predictions:** Log every train you spot and use AI Overview to predict where & when the next train will be -**Railroad Lookup:** Lookup the selected Railroad directly on the internet within the app to get all the info you need - **Historical Imagery:** Slide through years of aerial imagery to compare past and present alignments. - **Saved Places & Folders:** Save coordinates with notes, organize them into folders, edit details, and quickly fly to any point. - **Local Edits & Annotations:** Draw and persist local edits and annotations right on the map; they render alongside map tiles. - **Seamless Device Sync:** Automatic background sync and backups via iCloud Key-Value Store keep your saved places and edits in sync across your devices. - **Restore & Backup:** One-tap restore and safe merge behavior prevent accidental data loss and detect when data are already up to date. - **Quick Access:** Add bookmarks from the map or the main menu and use a dedicated “View on Map” flow that reliably navigates and centers the map on saved places. - **Power Tools for Enthusiasts:** Street-view toggle, custom map styles and layers, and a compact UI designed for quick field reference. Privacy: Your saved places and edits are stored on-device and synced only via your iCloud account when enabled. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Rail Guide3 screens
Open Railroad Guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Rail Guide at none against Open Railroad Guide's 3. Rail Guide also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18). Open Railroad Guide's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Open Railroad Guide sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Rail Guide asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Rail Guide against 4.9 for Open Railroad Guide. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 21 and 36 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Rail Guide versus Open Railroad Guide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRail GuideOpen Railroad Guide
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (21 ratings) — better4.9 (36 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2136 — better
Update frequency—Every 4 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB238 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperRail Guide LLCIKworks

Customer experience

Rail Guide

All ratings21 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Open Railroad Guide

All ratings36 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Rail Guide

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Open Railroad Guide

One-time3
  • AI Tools for ORG$6.99
  • Open Railroad Guide Premium$14.99
  • Unlock All$20.00

Questions

Is Rail Guide free?
Rail Guide is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Open Railroad Guide free?
Open Railroad Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Rail Guide or Open Railroad Guide?
Rail Guide is rated higher. Rail Guide averages 5.0 out of 5 from 21 ratings, while Open Railroad Guide averages 4.9 from 36 ratings.
Do Rail Guide or Open Railroad Guide have ads?
Rail Guide shows ads; Open Railroad Guide does not.

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